The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Synopsis: A young skeleton man visits his in-laws for the holidays.

Would you be able to sit through it?: Yes. There are plenty of excellent visuals and fun songs, especially if Halloween is your thing. And Christmas, to an extent.

Any scary/violent parts?: Some of the residents of Halloween Town can be a little scary, particularly Oogie Boogie and Dr. Finkelstein when he scratches his brain and takes half of it out. 

Anything that will screw up your kid’s head?: They may try to poison you if you ground them. But they were probably going to do that anyway.

Any lessons to be learned?: Don’t try to change who you are, maybe? Don’t attempt to like something new? Hmm. Listen to reason? I guess.

Any really stupid parts that don’t make any sense?: Why yes. When Jack tells the trick or treaters to capture Santa, they come back a short time later (seems like the same day), but they mistakenly caught the Easter Bunny. So Jack tells them to go back for the right guy, and it literally takes them weeks, because there’s “Making Christmas” passage of time montage as Halloween Town gets ready for Christmas, and they don’t deliver Santa until the end of it, on Christmas Eve. So what were they doing all that time?

Recommended age: 6. Fairly lighthearted overall but some of the visuals can be a bit intense for littler kids, especially seeing Santa mistreated.

Rent it, buy it or avoid it?: Burent. This is kind of some leftover Halloween candy that I’m just getting to due to Schlocktoberfest. I’m sure everyone has seen this movie by now at least once and it’s hard to believe that it’s almost 25 years old, but my main concern having only seen it once long ago is that it may have been a little much for a kid to take in. Turns out it’s really not that bad. Oogie Boogie isn’t really that scary unless your kid is afraid of bugs or something. Like I said they may get a little upset at the way he’s trying to murder Santa but it doesn’t really amount to much. Other than that, some light kidnapping, and attempted murder via poisoning by Sally, none of it is a real problem. It’s a good movie overall even though I’m not completely enamored with it or anything, since it just seems like it’s trying really hard to be odd over everything else. Although this is from the mind of Tim Burton, after all. But definitely worth watching, either at Halloween or Christmas, so that’s a bonus. Or in Jack’s case, a boneus!

Score: 7 leaves of deadly nightshade (out of 10)

My Daughter’s Review: Didn’t have a ton to say about it but loved Zero and thought Sally was awesome. Sang along with “This is Halloween.”